Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell vs Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is an action-adventure strategy game (2002) while Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is an action-adventure FPS game from Ubisoft Toronto (2013).
What each one is
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is filed under Action-Adventure and Strategy. In contrast, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist under Action-Adventure and FPS.
Enter the world of cinematic stealth action with Splinter Cell, the game that propelled the genre to cult status. You are Sam Fisher, an elite covert agent in the NSA's top-secret division: Third Echelon.
In this stealth-action thriller, a terrorist group known as the Engineers launches the Blacklist, a series of escalating attacks on US interests. Only one man can stop them: legendary covert agent Sam Fisher.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
The first game explains that "Splinter Cell" refers to an elite recon -type unit of single covert operatives (such as Sam Fisher) who are supported in the field by a high-tech remote team. In the first three games ( Splinter Cell , Pandora Tomorrow , Chaos Theory ), terrorists are planning attacks, usually by use of information warfare , which Fisher, an operative for Third Echelon, a secret branch of the NSA, must prevent. The missions range from… (Wikipedia)
Characters
The characters of the games, as well as the organization Third Echelon, were created by J. T. Petty . (Wikipedia)
Reception
By the end of 2004, sales of the Splinter Cell series totaled 9. 6 million units. By October 2005, the series' global sales had surpassed 12. (Wikipedia)
Plot
Characters Blacklist again features Sam Fisher ( Eric Johnson ), a former Third Echelon Splinter Cell who is now the spymaster and commander of the newly installed Fourth Echelon. The game also sees the return of Fisher's old ally, Anna "Grim" Grímsdóttir ( Kate Drummond ), and new characters such as Isaac Briggs (Dwain Murphy) and Charlie Cole ( David Reale ). Several supporting characters from Conviction reappear, including Victor Coste (Howard… (Wikipedia)
Characters
Blacklist again features Sam Fisher ( Eric Johnson ), a former Third Echelon Splinter Cell who is now the spymaster and commander of the newly installed Fourth Echelon. The game also sees the return of Fisher's old ally, Anna "Grim" Grímsdóttir ( Kate Drummond ), and new characters such as Isaac Briggs (Dwain Murphy) and Charlie Cole ( David Reale ). Several supporting characters from Conviction reappear, including Victor Coste (Howard Siegel), Patricia… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Pre-release Although Joystiq's Mike Schramm praised Blacklist s early screenshots and videos for removing Conviction s monochromatic visuals, its new voice actor was not received well by most of fans. Ubisoft responded with a statement that Ironside was not returning as Fisher because an actor "physically capable" of a motion-capture performance was needed, and Johnson was hired for the role. Critical reception Reception Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell:… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.7/10 | 6.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (88%, 4,023) | Mostly Positive (79%, 21,615) |
| Critic aggregate | 91/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $9.99 | $19.99 |
| Install size | — | — |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2002 | 2013 |
| Developer | — | Ubisoft Toronto |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell vs Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Tom Clancy's Splinter CellAction-adventure strategy gameTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistAction-adventure FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Tom Clancy's Splinter CellStealth, Action, Third PersonTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistStealth, Action, Co-opThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ✓Score 7.7 · 88% on Steam · 91 criticTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistScore 6.7 · 79% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell4,023 reviewsTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist21,615 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ✓$9.99Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Tom Clancy's Splinter CellPlayableTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueTom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- Nintendo
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (GamingPickz Score 7.7)
- The cheaper right now: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ($9.99)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist (21,615 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
StealthActionThird PersonSingleplayerShooterThird-Person ShooterMultiplayerAdventure
Where they differ
ClassicDifficult
Online Co-OpParkourStory RichFPSFirst-PersonRPG
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is demanding, for players who want a challenge. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | 512 MB |
| Minimum CPU | — | 2.53 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo E6400 |
| Minimum RAM | — | 2 GB |
| Install size | — | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell · Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and 0 for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist in scope?
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell has drawn 4,023 Steam reviews. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist has drawn 21,615 Steam reviews.
Is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell or Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell rates higher (7.7 to 6.7). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell or Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist?
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $19.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.